A Connecticut alternative investment management firm is opening its third office in China, deep in the country’s earthquake-scarred interior.

Chilton Investment Co. has signed a lease for an office in Chengdu, about 50 miles from the epicenter of May’s devastating earthquake. The firm plans to file an application for permission with the Chinese authorities, allowing its Beijing branch to run an office in the city of 11 million.

The Stamford-based firm also has an office in Hong Kong.

The new office aims to capitalize on investment opportunities in Western China. Chengdu boasts such companies as Intel, IBM, Nokia, Microsoft and Xerox.

“The terrible earthquake that tragically struck western China earlier this year has only served to strengthen our resolve to help support the economic recovery and expansion of the region by pursuing recovery and expansion of the region by pursuing promising investment opportunities,” CEO Richard Chilton said in a statement. “I know from my extensive travel in western China that there are many high-quality companies there that are operating with very little visibility in the investment community and with limited access to capital. The recent turmoil in the region will only make it that much harder for these businesses to receive the attention and funding they deserve.”

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